Written by

Rob McCurdy

CentralOhio.com

Obscure Stat of the Game

The Buckeyes own Northwestern in Columbus, winning the last 30 times at home which is the longest active streak in the Big Ten against a conference opponent. The streak dates to Feb. 24, 1977, when Jimmy Carter was president and Eldon Miller was in his first year as Ohio State’s coach. The Wildcats won that night 83-72 in St. John Arena. — Rob McCurdy

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COLUMBUS — Forget the healing powers of aspirin and the curing powers of penicillin, nothing salves what hurts more than seeing the basketball go through the rim.

As offense goes, Ohio State has been an ailing team since the start of the new year.

Heading into Wednesday’s home game with Northwestern, the Buckeyes were a pedestrian seventh in scoring in Big Ten games at 66.2 points per game. They were sixth in shooting (.432), eighth in 3-point percentage (.328) and 10th in free throws (.701) as well.

But those numbers don’t do justice to what pained Ohio State.

In their previous home game, a 70-60 loss Feb. 11 to Michigan, the Buckeyes were 3 of 20 from 3-point range. At Illinois on Saturday, they managed just 48 points — albeit in a win — shooting 38 percent from the floor and 23 percent from 3s.

Since blowing out Nebraska 84-53 in early January, Ohio State broke 70 points just three times in 11 games. Four times in that span, it was held to less than 40 percent shooting and went above 50 percent just once. Six times, they shot 33 percent or worse from 3-point range.

At least for one night, all that changed.

Watching a 13-11 lead turn into a 25-16 deficit during a five-minute stretch of the first half, the Buckeyes soon witnessed the miracle powers of seeing shots fall in a 76-60 win against the Wildcats.

“Getting the offensive flow was good for us,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

A 3-point play by Aaron Craft, layups by Lenzelle Smith Jr. and LaQuinton Ross, a 3 by Ross, more layups by Ross, Smith and Trey McDonald, gave the Buckeyes the lead for good. But the ball didn’t stop falling.

“We needed a run,” Matta said. “Getting down like we did, we did a pretty good job of keeping our composure. Guys knew coming out of timeouts what they needed to do and went out and executed it.”

Ohio State made 10 of 11 field goals and 12 of 16 in an 11-minute stint that started in the first half and continued into the second. Overall, it scored on 20 of 22 possessions and went on a 25-5 run in the midst of those possessions.

“When we’re knocking down shots, it just adds another dimension to our game. Teams have to guard us a different way,” junior forward Sam Thompson said. “They can’t just sit back and pack the lane. Every guy out there is confident shooting the ball.”

The Buckeyes were 7 of 16 from 3-point range for 44 percent. Thompson was 3-for-4 from there, tying the most 3s he’s had in a game. Ross hit 2 of 3. Four guys — Ross, Craft, Smith and Thompson — reached double figures and a fifth — Shannon Scott — added nine points.

Shooting 46 percent for the game was the third-best percentage they’ve put up since that Nebraska beat down in just the second Big Ten game of the season. Ohio State’s 76 points matched the most they’ve scored during the past dozen games, also scoring 76 in a win at Iowa.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of getting inside the defense and attacking, and we were finishing around there,” Matta said.

Those finishes proved to be a good dose of medicine for a team in need of a pick-me-up.